Christy Clark’s un-Liberal ideas: On her party’s brand and turning its fortunes around

Christy Clark's un-Liberal ideas: Candid talk from the premier in a hurry

Christy Clark calls herself a premier in a hurry. With a provincial election one year away and her Liberal government a distant second behind the B.C. NDP in opinion polls, she has little time to turn her fortunes around. The Post‘s Brian Hutchinson sat down with the premier in Vancouver to discuss the challenges she and her party face.

Q Why would you contemplate a name change for your party?

A Because we’re a coalition party. And the B.C. Liberal name doesn’t reflect the breadth of our coalition, I don’t think. The problem with our name is that there’s a federal party that shares it, even though it’s an entirely different party. To the extent that words matter, and they do, I think to some people it feels exclusive. I would like to find a more inclusive name, that reflects the coalition better.

‘The New Democratic Party, what does that mean? How democratic is an NDP convention, anyway?’

A Well, isn’t that true of all names, really? The New Democratic Party, what does that mean? How democratic is an NDP convention, anyway?

Q The Liberal name has essentially been tarnished. So it’s not a good brand?

A It’s not, no. It’s not. We have federal Conservatives and we have federal Liberals. But we only have one of their names in our title. So I think it may be better to have none of their names in our title. It’s not the durable kind of name that our party needs, in the long term.

Q When did you start talking about the party being a free enterprise party? We’re hearing that a lot now. I don’t know if during your leadership campaign you were talking about your party being a free enterprise party. It’s strategy, right?

A Well, I think I talked about it in the leadership. You know, the last time I was in government was in ’01 to ’05. We talked about being free enterprisers a lot back then. About wanting to have a thriving private sector economy. That’s just always who we have been. That’s the single uniting idea, for all of us.

And the thing about British Columbia that’s different from every other province in Canada, is the only way you can beat the NDP is if everybody who’s not NDP gets together. Because the NDP are always good for 35% to 40% [of the general vote]. There is no other province where they can garner that kind of support on a consistent basis. The only way we can do it is with a coalition. And this is the flaw in the thinking of [B.C. Conservative leader] John Cummins. He thinks you can somehow win an election in British Columbia if you’re not a coalition. He thinks that by rejecting the coalition idea, you can do better or you can succeed, and history has proven you can’t.

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Q What can you do to bring back the people now supporting the Conservatives?

A That’s what we’re going to be talking about at our October [Liberal party] convention. I’m inviting people from all across the province — it doesn’t matter what your party membership is, if you believe in free enterprise — to come to our policy convention in the fall, help us debate our name change idea, help us come up with new policies on ideas that appeal to you. For example, in education: How do we give parents more choices in education? How do we reward really excellent teachers? How do we support faith-based institutions, or not? What do we do about the gap between private and public sector pay equity, which is big. There’s some pretty controversial questions on the agenda. What I’m trying to do is invite anybody who is a free enterpriser to come and debate those questions, and feel like they’re part of our coalition again. I want people to know they have a say in building our policies. I’ve never been to a convention where we allow non-party members to go and have a say, ever.

Q This sounds like a party remake.

A It is, in some ways, yeah. We’re trying to reach out and recreate this home for free enterprise…. B.C. Liberals have been in government a long time. And there’s been a lot of water under the bridge, particularly before I got here. And we’ve got to repair that.

‘There’s been a lot of water under the bridge, particularly before I got here. And we’ve got to repair that’

Q You’ve said that contracts to deliver liquified natural gas (LNG) to Japan and elsewhere need to be signed within five years, and new pipelines to deliver the gas from northeastern B.C. to port facilities have to be built. In other words, within the next term. So I gather your message is this has to be a priority, and that you are the person to do this, not the other guy, [NDP leader] Adrian Dix?

A Well, when you look at our different approaches that we have for investment and economic development, I think it’s pretty unlikely that an NDP government would even be interested in accomplishing this. I’m pro development. I’m pro-economic development. I’m pro-pipeline. And I want to try and expedite the process as quickly as we can, for LNG pipelines across the north, so that we can seize the opportunity. This window for [selling LNG to Japan] isn’t going to be open forever. We’re not the only people coming to the dance here. So that’s the issue that we’re confronting, and that’s why I’m a premier in a rush on this stuff.

Q Is that your position on the proposed Enbridge and Kinder Morgan pipelines?

A With the Enbridge pipeline, we don’t know the extent of the risk. It’s a much riskier product to move.

Moving crude oil, or bitumen, is a lot more risky than moving natural gas, which escapes into the air if it leaks. So we need to understand the extent of the risk and we need to quantify the benefits for British Columbia.

Because at the moment, what we know about it is, we’re moving an Alberta product through British Columbia, with no value added in our province, and we’re taking 100% of the risk.

Q And that would apply to Kinder Morgan as well?

A Well, yeah. The thing about Kinder Morgan, though, that is different, is that you’re talking about an established pipeline along an established route, going to ships in an area where there are already lots of ships that are moving oil. So I think that our understanding of the risks is better in the Kinder Morgan case, because we’re already doing it. Here’s my view of the process: If you want to attract investment to your province, you have an obligation to allow [an environmental assessment] process to take its due course, without mucking in it politically. I think this idea that the NDP have, that you can pre-judge it, and you know what the outcome is going to be, it just sends all the wrong messages to investors. I think it sends a chill down the spines of investors.

‘I think when we drop the writ, people are going to start really thinking about the alternatives’

Q Your message is about jobs, and B.C. is leading Canada in new employment. Why, then, is your party saddled with low numbers in opinion polls? Why isn’t your message grabbing more people, and when they look at the alternatives, why aren’t they rushing back? What’s missing?

A I think peoples’ attention is missing at the moment. I don’t think most people are paying a lot of attention to the alternatives, or even to the current [government]. I think we saw that in Alberta. We saw it in Ontario. We’ve seen it across Canada, in most of the recent elections, these come-from-behind victories that defy the polls and defy the pundits. My theory is that’s because people just aren’t engaged in the day-to-day governance of a province if things are going pretty well. Monday will be one year from election day. I think when we drop the writ, people are going to start really thinking about the alternatives.

Q Have you talked with [Alberta Premier Alison] Redford? What do you take from her experience, how she turned things around?

A She and I haven’t had a chance to have that conversation yet. I phoned her on the morning of the election, and said, “Alison, I really wish you the best of luck.”

Q Were you pulling for her?

A I was pulling her. She’s a very smart woman. She really has Alberta’s interests at heart, and she believes in building Canada. So I phoned her to say “Good luck Alison,” and I phoned her the night of the election, after we saw the results, and I said “Alison, I can’t believe this. All of the pollsters and the pundits were wrong. How could this have happened?” And she said, “Christy, of all the people in the world, I can’t believe that you are asking me that.”

Q Would you contemplate another tax cut? Personal and corporate?

A Absolutely. We can’t afford it today, because we’re transitioning back to the provincial sales tax, which is expensive, and I am absolutely determined that we will balance our budget. To me, that is the single most important thing that we can do to demonstrate to the bond rating agencies and investors that we are not losing our nerve.

We are going to balance our budget.

‘We are going to balance our budget’

Q When?

A Next year. It’s going to be tough, no question about it.

Q Do you have any regrets about not calling an election immediately after you won the party leadership last year?

A Hindsight is 20-20.

Q But you ran on that, in your leadership campaign.

A I did. What I wanted to do, I wanted to dispose of this HST [harmonized sales tax] issue more quickly. I suggested we take it to the legislature and vote the HST out of existence. I was convinced we were going to lose the referendum, because people were just so angry about the HST, and the way it was brought in. I thought, let’s get the HST out of the way, and then let’s have an election.

But the thing was, in those first few months I travelled in every corner of the province, and I talked to B.C. Liberals everywhere I went, and not a single one said to me, “Christy, we want an election.” Every single B.C. Liberal I met said, “Christy, just don’t call an election. Don’t do it.” My caucus said, “Please, don’t do it.” People wanted to see me in government, to see how I would lead this party. So that was the choice I made. And you know what? I think it was a good choice to make…. I ran in the leadership on an early election, and I made a decision not to do it. Because I heard from people. I listened.